Optical fiber units such as couplers are often assembled in a fashion which results in several such fiber optic units being joined together by relatively short lengths of optical fiber. Due to the delicate nature of optical fibers, it is desirable to provide protective packaging for such fibers and the resulting assemblage of fiber optic units. It is known, for example, to hold the protective jackets of fibers together by adhesives within a container.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a package made to contain the fiber optic units and the interconnecting fiber. The function of the package is to protect the fiber optic units and especially the optical fibers leading to the assemblage of units, the optical fibers interconnecting the units, and the fibers exiting from the assemblage of units. The protection of these components being necessitated by the delicate nature of the fibers, the susceptibility of such an assemblage to performance variations if the interconnecting fibers are allowed to bend freely during application of the assembly, and the generalized ease of handling advantage gained from the otherwise cumbersome collection of fiber optic units and interconnecting fibers. Additionally, protection from external environmental influences such as dirt, water, corrosive agents, and handling forces is required. Further it is desired to package the assemblage of units in a manner which facilitates the operations required to anchor the units and associated fibers within the package, in order to minimize manufacturing time and fiber breakage during packaging in the desired manner. It is also desirous to package the assemblage of fiber optic units in a manner which provides subsequent ease of mounting the package assembly in user equipment. A unit which incorporates all of these above features is also desired.